


A small quiet gathering.

by justinsbuzz



Series: Everything Changes, Everything Stays arc [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Birthday Party, F/M, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-04 22:58:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16798723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justinsbuzz/pseuds/justinsbuzz
Summary: It was just suppose to be a small party. Just a small group of friends and family, coming together, and celebrating someone's special birthday. no party crashers, no mysterious floating ominous gems, and everyone will be there. yep. nothing out of the ordinary here. nothing at a- *CRASH!*





	A small quiet gathering.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, awesome news! we're getting SU back on TV. The hiatus was getting to alot of us (see "Day:111"), but there's light at the end of the tunnel. bad news though, it means that alot of this will be kind of irrelevant. I'd still want to ride this out as long as i can, but certain things will come to an end. I might come back with a new series of writing that's almost akin to gonzo journalism and "crack-fic". i've found my love for writing again, and it's everyone's fault and i blame you all (no, seriously, you're all awesome, and you gave me the steam to keep going for as long as i have. except that one person. they know who I'm talking about. Freaking jerk...). so, technically, this is the second to last Story for this arc. It's not much, but it's pretty good. Enjoy.

Rain patted loudly against the window of Steven’s bedroom on a late Saturday evening. Almost enough to have Steven turn up the volume on the television so that he and Connie could hear the anime they were watching. They were both sitting on the ground in front of the bed, waiting the long 5 minutes before their ramen finished cooking. Coming over on Saturdays to stay up, watch anime, and eat noodles, was one of the few times Steven and Connie had a chance to be with each other. Highschool and tutoring for Connie, as well as Steven running around town to make sure the Gems didn’t break too many things, and showing them how to live on earth as themselves, had kept them preoccupied with separate different things. And the few times they’re with each other are when they’re practicing sword training, or sometimes taking Connie to and from school in case her parents couldn’t do it. But it’s when Saturday comes around when the “Jam Buds, MK-2” can get together and not worry about anything else but what to watch next. Originally, the plan was to spend the night at Steven’s house, but since they were dating now, parents on both sides weren’t too comfortable with the sleepover idea. So instead, they basically spend all afternoon watching whatever Peridot was able to rip off the internet, or just hanging out.

The past month had been especially tiring for Steven, who apart from having to teach a small group of Lapses that the rain wasn’t a vicious bombardment of an imminent attack from white diamond, also had to live with an ominous Obsidian gem, in a bubble, floating around the house. It can’t necessarily break out of the bubble, but that doesn’t stop it from roaming around the house, and hovering around the ceiling. There were a couple of nights Steven caught it spying on him while he was trying to sleep. Steven kept up a façade of acting like everything is normal. He needed to do this, mostly for Connie, since she has a lot on her plate. He didn’t want to make her worry. But with Connie being preoccupied as well, she hasn’t noticed. Or at least not until today.

Steven and Connie were prepared to remove the lid when something caught the corner of Steven’s eyes. It was the Obsidian stone, peering into the room. Steven nearly gave off a startling gasp before catching himself. Connie, on the other hand, pulled Steven towards her and pulling him lower to the ground, nearly spilling his soup.

“Steven? That the heck is that?!” Connie whispered in a panic. She was trying to hide and protect Steven.

“That? The bubble?” Steven replied.

“Yes that!” Connie said, slightly more panicked than before. At that point, the door opened on its own, and the bubble slowly hovered inside. Steven and Connie couldn’t move anywhere else without being detected. Connie moved her soup aside and pulled Steven closer, almost prepared to Shield Steven from the bubbled intruder. A true knight. The bubble loomed overhead, first looking at the two huddled on the ground, and then at the television. It paused on the TV for a moment, looking at an intense sword fighting scene. It watched the fight sequence, but became disinterested when it ended, and the shows overall tune turned to romance. It hovered out of the room, and closed the door behind it.

After a few moments, Steven went to the door and opened it a crack. One of the rules laid down by Greg and Pearl was that Steven never closes his door when he has Connie over. Just a precautionary measure.

“Steven. Explain. Black gem moving on its own, in a bubble no less!?” Connie stated in a confused tone.

“Well, you know how recently Pearl and Blue Diamond have seem to be on edge since the end of last month?” Steven said sheepishly. Connie stared at Steven, trying to figure out where all of this is going. “Apparently, there might be a dangerous secret weapon on this planet that could enslave all of humanity.”

“….ok.” Connie said flatly.

“And it’s in that bubble.” Steven said.

“Of course.” Connie acknowledged unphased

“And her name is Obsidian” Steven stated

“Fitting” Connie replied, looking slightly more tired.

“And her form is kind of a manifestation of my nightmares of me failing you and letting you down.” Steven said sheepishly.

“still on par with everything else” Connie replied looking more worried by the second.

“And she looks like your evil clone you fought in my mom’s room that one time.” Steven finished, looking scared that Connie might scold him for not telling her sooner.

Connie stared blankly at Steven for a few moments before putting a few fingers to her forehead, trying to massage the situational migraine that struck her. She let out a long, loud sigh. She slumped down on the ground and stared up at the ceiling.

“Love you forever, Biscuit, but your guilt may end up killing us as well as humanity. It’s hampering the team dynamic. Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?!” Connie replied all at once, while slightly chuckling.

Before Steven could reply, the door swung open to Pearl jumping in and looking around alarmingly. She was taken aback when nothing was amiss.

“Sorry. Carry on.” Pearl replied. But before she left, Connie’s eyed darted onto Pearl.

“So, when were you going to introduce me to my long-lost evil twin, Pearl?” Connie said perturbed that she was kept out of the loop.

“Well, um, she’s not really your twin.” Pearl replied, completely unphased with Connie’s tone of frustration. “We’re not sure what she really is. Not even Blue, who’s completely at fault for all of this.”

“Pearl, we don’t know that. She seems reformed now, I don’t think she would be behind this. Would she?” Steven asked, seemingly unsure himself.

“No, she’s clean. She doesn’t seem to be the type to do that.” Connie said. “Or at least, she didn’t when she and I talked.”

“When did that happen?” Steven and Pearl asked at the same time.

“Another story for another time. For now, what do we do about” Connie replied before being cut off by the floating bubble passing by again, as though trying to look like it’s not listening in. “That.”

“For now, all any of us can do is keep an eye on it for now.” Steven said with worry in his voice.

“I’m still trying to find a way to bubble it twice, or at least try to immobilize it. It would be easier if Garnet was here.” Pearl said, her tone slightly changing to one of regret. “She’s been gone for too long.”

Pearl turned away to follow the bubble again. But before the door could shut all the way, she put down one of Steven’s shoes to prevent it from closing.

“Steven.” Connie said, bringing Steven in for a hug “You should have told me this, Biscuit. Me and my family could have let you stay at my house for the time being. But why didn’t you say anything?”

“I…I didn’t want you-” Steven was about to say before being cut off.

“Didn’t want me to worry because I’ve been bogged down by school work and tutoring?” Connie finished Stevens excuse for him, almost instinctively word for word.

“You know me too well, Connie.” Steven said relieved.

“I case you were wondering, average A’s across the board, put that smug Physics teacher in his place, and pretty much assured that we can still go on dates until the new year. But Steven, I can put some things aside to help you out. I could use a chance of pace. I’m your knight, remember?” Connie said, moving Steven away and squishing his cheeks.

“Dushnt min I can’t be yur night too.” Steven replied with stars in his eyes. 

“You need something to help take your mind off of this. You’re cute, but you look like you’re wound up tight.” Connie said, still smushing his cheeks together. Steven mind nearly broke when Connie said he was cute. That’s never happened before. He ended up letting out a small squeal before Connie released him.

“What do you have in mind?” Steven asked. A small chuckle was heard from Steven’s closet. A small, high pitch one. Connie stormed over to it and pushed aside the accordion doors to reveal Peri and two other era 3 Peridots, typing on keyboards. Lapis had introduced them to not only fanfic, but the terrible art of shipping. Connie lifted Peri up over her head while Steven took the two Era 3’s and dragged them out of the room.

“But our writing subjects. We were learning human customs! Our muse!” Squealed one of the Era 3’s

“Judging from some of the things you’ve written, you’ve learned too much.” Connie said in a frustrated tone. She eventually threw Peri out of the room and over the banister overlooking the living room and foyer, while the era 3’s jumped over the banister, going after peridot. It’s worth noting that no matter the era, Peridots are tougher than they look.

“Those green gremlins nearly got me grounded for a month. I mean, just, some of the stuff they’ve written were…extreme.” Connie said, lamenting the time Steven and Connie were scolded by their parents after they learned of the Peri’s newfound hobby. It was the most uncomfortable and humiliating 30 minutes of their lives. It was also the reason why the open-door rule was put in place. 

“Why would anyone write that stuff? I mean, we’re nothing like that.” Steven said, looking at the Peridots scrambling back to their room. “They effectively killed off my childhood.”

“Where were we? Oh, birthday planning.” Connie said, collecting her thoughts at lightning speed.

“Birthday planning?” Steven asked before it dawned on him that Connie’s birthday was a week away. “Wait, I thought you didn’t like doing things for your birthday?”

In the past, Connie didn’t, because no only did her family move around a lot, she never had any friends to celebrate with. And her house wasn’t as big as it is now, since they’ve fully moved into Beach City. Their house was somewhat more spacious, and not as cramped. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and enough space to host a small get-together. And the view of the ocean is a plus as well. And now that Connie’s opened herself up and have the confidence to hang out with the cool kids, as well as a magical boyfriend, the concept of a small birthday party didn’t seem all that remote.

“Well, since circumstances change, and I can actually invite more than three people to the party, I was thinking of maybe having one.” Connie said sheepishly. “And also, we could use a distraction. We’ve been running ourselves ragged, and it would be nice to have some people together over for cake.”

“That…actually sounds nice.” Steven said with a smile on his face, but then he paused for a moment. “But wait, why me? Wouldn’t your parents be the one’s doing that?”

“Well, since they’ve been busy with work, or lack thereof, I think they would be ok with you doing it. Besides, you planned a really nice wedding. I’m just wondering if you do Birthdays.” Connie said, realizing that she had noodles to eat, which at this point, might have gone cold.

“Well, I could do that. But it might cost you.” Steven said cloyingly.

“4 Cookie cat Ice cream bars and a couple of kisses on the cheek.” Connie said flatly, as though she knew the market price for a birthday party created by Steven.

“You know me so well.” Steven said sweetly, picking up his cup of noodles, feeling that it’s still warm.

“Just nothing big. Or loud. Or complicated. The past year has been too much of that. I just want to spend some time with family and friends. And you.” Connie said as she looked at her Cup of noodles to see not only did it go cold, but mushy as well. Steven nudged his cup of noodles over to her, suggesting that they share. Connie looked at him, knowing how lucky she is to be a part of his universe.

\-------------------------------

A week had past, and between e-mails and instant messages with buck and the cool kids as well as Connie’s parent, and also talking to a couple of gems about maybe making some bubbles with red and blue glow rings in them, and talking to Pearl and Amethyst about making a large strawberry shortcake-style cake, the party was fully planned. All the while, the bubbled Obsidian gem still made it’s rounds. At this point, it seemed harmless. It was almost as if it acted like a security guard, or just something completely docile. All the while, it was still unnerving for Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl. The fight with Obsidian was still fresh in their minds, and it wasn’t going away any time soon.  
Saturday came around again, and the plan was to find a way to get Connie out of the house for a while as they set up the party. Luckily though, Steven and Connie still met up for their Saturday anime and noodle lunch. There was one problem.

“So, how long do you think it will take?” Connie asked, blowing on her soup.

“How long will what take?” Steven ask nonchalantly.

“The surprise party you and the gems are setting up at my house.” Connie replied.

“What? How did you find out?” Steven asked confused and surprised. He was sure to keep everything secret. Someone leaked it. Must have been the Aquamarines.

“You. Just now. because I know you. And I did ask you to set one up.” Connie replied, slurping one noodle at a time, as though she was helping buy Steven some time.

“Oh, right.” Steven said looking embarrassed. Connie reassured him.

“It’s ok, Steven. It’s not like I won’t be surprised. I don’t know what kind of cake there is, or who will be there, or even if you hired Onion to do fire eating stunts.” Connie told Steven. Steven did toy with the idea of having onion perform some form of stunts for her birthday, but remembered that she wanted it small and simple.

“Yeah, there’s that.” Steven said.

“I know it’s going to be great, because you had a hand in it. Just, don’t try making yourself taller for me, ok? At this height, you’re perfect. I mean, you’re perfect the way to always are.” Connie told Steven, but backtracked what she said, trying not to hurt Steven’s feelings. Ever since Steven gained a few more inches, Steven and Connie have been at eyeline level with each other. but as of late, Connie seems to be taking the lead again. To break up the awkward silence, Connie picked up on another similar topic.

“So. 14. Any…pointers?” Connie asked, trying to change topics poorly.

“well, expect greasier skin, irritability, nervousness, and a desire to eat things with fire-salt in it. Beyond that, not sure.” Steven replied awkwardly. Some of this stuff is better off being explained by her mom.

“So 3 out of 4, ok.” Connie replied. Things didn’t get any less awkward from that point. Not because of the awkward conversation of growing up, but because of an uninvited guest that is currently on Stevens bed. The Bubbled Obsidian was casually perched on top of Steven’s pillow, like a strange looking egg.

“OK, I’ll ask.” Connie Spoke, wanting to get it out there. “One, did you train that gem to do that, or is it just doing its own thing. And two, did you invite it?”

“Well, one, no I didn’t. I can’t train lion to sleep in a box, so this is definitely not me. It does its own thing. And two, see statement one.” Steven said, unphased. 

Steven was nervous that the bubbled gem moved closer to them, as though it wants to be a part of the conversation. Soon a small hum could be felt in the air between the three of them, and that was the last straw. As casually as possible, Steven and Connie grabbed their coats, made their way out of his room and out the door without garnering any more attention from the bubbled Obsidian. When they walked out of the house, they were met with a cold gust of wind. There were no clouds ,revealing a bright autumn sky. But the wind chill cut at their faces. For protection, Steven decided to bubble them and made their way to Connie’s house. It felt very familiar, almost pleasant to be taking a stroll on the beach in a bubble with Connie.

“Do you remember back when we first met? Stuck in a bubble and trying to find out how to get out?” Steven asked Connie as they casually walked down the beach. But now that Steven knows how to change the outer shape of the bubble, the walk on the beach was easier now that there was traction.

“Back then? Yeah.” Connie replied. “Started the day just wanting to read a book, and ending it by destroying a pier and taking out a gem monster. Hard to forget that.”

“Yeah. It was kind of scary.” Steven said admittingly. “Not knowing what was going on with the bubble. I didn’t really have a handle on my powers. And now…”

“Now you have the capability to summon your shield, your bubble, turn said bubble into a spikey ball.” Connie began to list all the awesome things Steven has learned how to do over the years. “Healing spit, being able to go into someone’s head, or in their dream, minor shapeshifting.” 

“regressing into a baby after trying to maintain one shape for too long.”

“By the way, please don’t do that. Or, maybe grow a little taller for me for the last dance.”

“What about me being perfect the way I am?” Steven asked somewhat hurt.

“You are perfect the way to are. But, just one dance, maybe so I can look up at you?” Connie asked Steven innocently. Steven began to feel guilty, and caved.

“OK. But only because it’s your birthday. And I love you. And you’re a hard person to shop for.” Steven said defeatedly.

“WOO-HOO! I get what I want!” Connie yelled with a wide smile on her face. but being in the bubble, the sound echoed off everything, causing their ears to ring for a bit.

After a bit, they arrived at Her house, which had a couple of balloons tied to a hook on the awning. A couple of cars were parked out front, one of them being Kiki and Jenny’s car. Peridot could be seen peeking through the curtain near the front door. Steven removed the bubble and stood in front of the door.

“Connie, could you maybe try to act surprised? This was a lot harder to organize than I thought.” Steven asked Connie, almost pleadingly.

“Surprised about what? You were just kind enough to walk me back home in a harsh windstorm.” Connie said, clearly acting like there was no party behind the door. “Want to come in for a bit? Maybe have some hot cocoa before you head back?”

Before Steven could reply, playing along, a voice behind the door yelled ‘Quiet! They’re about to come in!’. If Connie didn’t know there was a party before, she would now.

The party went smoothly. Not too many, and not too few. Greg, Doug, and Priyanka were there, of course, as well as both Kiki and Jenny, Buck, Sour Cream, and Sadie, who weren’t there to sing, but to just hang out. Then there were the Gem elements of Pearl and Amethyst wearing suits. Pearl seemingly felt overdressed, while Amethyst seems to wear hers as often as possible since the wedding. Bismuth also gave the whole suit thing a shot, while looking uncomfortable, none the less. She eventually got out of the suit later on in the party and back into her normal outfit. She seemed to have brought Connie a long wooden box, which was clearly her new sword. It wasn’t even wrapped, and all Connie could do is look on at the table where it sat, almost pleadingly. Lapis and Peridot with two Era 3’s in tow, bringing gifts of small meep-morps, thinking it would spruce up their new home.

The party took place outside on the patio, under a tent where the wind wasn’t howling at them, and most of the time was devoted to standing around and talking to each other. The other newer gems didn’t show up strangely, since they were invited as well. Not even the Nephrites, who seem interested showed up, or even the F’amethyst, who seem to never miss out on a chance to party, actually missed out. All in all, it wasn’t too big of a party, it was just the right amount. The only thing that really stood out was that Garnet was still not around. Steven and the other gems were worried about this, and it showed in their eyes. But Steven made sure the party was kept going. And by the time the cake was brought out, people were mingling with one another. Even the Era 3’s was well behaved, and started hanging out with Sour Cream and helping him set up some of the audio equipment. Dancing, presents, it was like clockwork, and Connie was smiling the entire time.

“You did really well, Steven.” Priyanka told Steven from behind, which caught Steven off guard.

“Oh, um, thank you ma’am.” Steven said, feeling somewhat humble. “I just wished Garnet would be here.”

“Yes, I heard that she’s been absent as of late. Her and Yellow Diamond. I wasn’t sure if I scared her off as well as Yellow.” Priyanka said, trying to remember some form of details. “Then again, Yellow and Garnet leaving at the same time, maybe if you talked to Yellow Pearl, she might know where they went.”

“Wait, Yellow Pearl is still here? In Beach City?” Steven said, sounding surprised.

“Yeah. They’re working as office attendance and nurses in training. I might not be qualified to teach medicine, but from everything I’ve taught them, they’re catching on fast.” Priyanka said, sounding impressed. Steven felt Connie grab his hand and led him to the center of the dance floor under the large tent.

“We’ll talk later, Steven. Go have some fun.” Priyanka called out to him as her attention turned to Pearl who might have been listening in on their previous conversation.

Steven and Connie danced to some of the records Onion brought, but mixed with some of Greg’s records. Connie seemed to really like philosophy majors more than anything. When the slow dance started, Steven kept to his word and grew a few more inches taller for Connie. As awkward as it was, it felt nice to dance with her like this once more. Everything was going great.

Suddenly, as soon as the song ended, the ground shook. Connie took a step back at Steven, clearly blushing. But their faces turned to panic when a sound of sirens and loud roaring in the distance caught everyone off guard. A moment had past when they heard knocking at the front door. Pearl and Priyanka rushed to the door to open it to show a large Amethyst trying to catch their breath.

“The temple…. The door, it opened.” The Amethyst spoke in between breaths.

“What door?” Pearl questioned the Amethyst.

“The Temple one. The one that lead to the bubble room. It opened. And they just started pouring out. We need help. The Aqua’s and Lapis Lazuli’s are all out on patrol. Nephrites are somewhere, I dunno. A couple of us went to go get Blue-D, but for now, it’s just us Famethysts, and you guys.” The Amethyst said, sounding really nervous, and with good reason. The bubble room had over a hundred of bubbled gem monsters and mutants. Over 5000 years of hunting and subduing the monsters, all erased. As the whole party flooded to the front of the house, the city sirens began to go off for the second time since they’ve been built. Two more times than they should, to the dismay of the townsfolk. The scene unfolded before them as one of minor chaos. Low rumbling and shrieking could be heard from Steven’s house, but the sound seems to be moving towards the center of town.   
Pearl took a few commanding steps forward, drew her fingers towards her gem, and drew out her trident, an ultimate sign that things have gone bad. She then turned to look at everyone and spoke.

“Alright everyone, not the most ideal of situations, but we plan for this kind of thing, all the time!” She spoke confidently. She lifted up her trident and began pointing it at certain people, giving orders.

“Priyanka, head to the shelters on the edge of town where I showed you, get things prepped for evacuees.” Pearl said, glairing at Priyanka in a way Steven and Connie had never seen before, as though it was without fear. Priyanka jumped into their only car and sped off on the only road going out of town. She drew another trident out, now with one in each and, and pointing it at Doug and Greg, respectively. 

“Doug and Greg, get people to the shelters. Greg takes his van while Doug will use the Pizza’s car, and no complaining! Pizza is a hard smell to get out of furniture. And don’t play it safe. Some of these gems can chase speeding train, and very few actually succeed in catching them. Serpentine, take sharp turns, just get as many people out as you can!” Pearl commanded Greg and Doug. “And you kids, split off and help them. Once your cars are full, head to the shelter and offload them”

“Right!” Both Greg and Doug yelped before running off into the vehicles, along with Sadie and the cool kids splitting up into different vehicles. Steven and Connie were about to follow before being stopped by Pearl.

“Oh no. You two are going to be with us. You’re crystal gems after all.” Pearl spoke, looking down at them with a sense of pride. “And Connie, I think it’s time for you to open up a special birthday present. Bismuth?”

Bismuth, knowing exactly what Pearl was going to say, had just came back with the long wooden box. She got on one knee and presented it to Connie.

“For you, M’lady” Bismuth spoke as she opened the box for Connie. Her pupils were in the shape of diamonds and a wide smile when she was presented with the opened box. She couldn’t help but giggle loudly as she opened it to reveal a double-edged bladed sword, with a Star for a hilt, and a rose shaped pommel. Doug would have nearly fainted at the sight of his daughter holding such a powerful sword. Connie picked it up, and held it over her head with great pride, before hearing a loud roar.

“Ok, enough pomp/circumstance stuff. LETS FIGHT!” Amethyst roared from behind, carrying dual whips and marching forward.

“Yes! Cristal gems, let’s go!” Pearl commanded as She, Steven and Connie marched forward into the center of town, while Amethyst, both old and new, and Bismuth went to the far side of town. Lapis summoned her wings, picked up Peridot and flew further along the beach towards the house. The smaller Era 3’s ran around the side of the house and under the deck, like stray cats.

It had only been a few moments before Pearl, Steven, and Connie encountered a group of mutant gems crawling around the alleyway nearby. 

“Steven. Connie. Fuse. You two are great on your own, but for this, Stevonie is greater than the both of you.” Pearl said looking back at them. Steven and Connie pressed their foreheads together and fused into Stevonie, wearing both a small red dress, blue jeans, and barefoot. Not the most ideal form of armor, but there is no time for that. They began to comb through the streets and alleyways. Many of the Gems they’ve encountered were confused about these new surroundings, which gave Stevonie and Pearl the upper hand advantage. Throughout the city, Doug and Greg went through to get as many people out as possible. But since this was a small town, it wasn’t too much trouble at first. But the other gem monsters thought they would be fun to chase. Peridot and Lapis caught up to them and provided air support. Bismuth, and the F’amethyst had taken on a dozen gems before making it to Steven’s house to find the front doors blown open, and the glass shattered all over the place. But amongst those shards were already poofed gems which hadn’t been reformed. One noticeable gem was missing; Obsidian. Knowing this, Amethyst had begun to make her trek to Pearl and Stevonie in hopes to find them before Obsidian does. 

By now, Stevonie and Pearl had cleared out everything from the Maheswaran’s house, all the way to the town square and park. Pearl was right, Stevonie was well beyond better than Steven and Connie were alone. And for Steven and Connie, it was always good being Stevonie, but in combat, it was even better. The only problem is when Stevonie tries to bubble gems, it doesn’t work half the time. But they were still trying to get the hang of it at this point in their training. But still, there were Gem mutants and corrupted monsters on the loose. Even if Stevonie had finally hit their full stride, there were still too many of them. Every so often, Pearl and Stevonie would see a couple of Famethysts, fighting a few large corrupted gems as safely as they could, without getting bitten to scratched. Their numbers were dwindling though. But suddenly, a dark shape blurred from one corner of Stevonies eyes to another corner. 

“Oh no.” Pearl whispered, her head looking left to right frantically. “Obsidian. SHE’S-“

Before Pearl could finish her sentence, a large crash was heard coming from behind where a bike shop was. A Large corrupted gem busted out from behind, with two mutant gems in tow, gunning towards Pearl. But before she could do anything, the same dark blur was seen again, sweeping across the mutant and corrupted gems in a mere instant. All three of them had poofed all at once. Pearl and Stevonie were in shock as to what had happened. They began to look around swiftly, trying to see if there were more gems around. But from behind them, something was sitting on the large, metallic sculpture of Nanafua, slightly hitting the hollow statue with its blade. Both Stevonie and Pearl turned around swiftly to see a doppelganger of Connie sitting on Nanafua’s head. Obsidian had taken form, and also had a voice.

“So…” Obsidian started. “you two are either going to poof me and be one blade short of a lawnmower, or are we all going to work together, and THEN ‘attempt’ to poof me after my warm up.”

Pearl and Stevonie didn’t have time to answer when they heard a loud rumble from down the street. It looked as though a large heard of corrupt gems had spotted prey in the very fast-moving corrupted gem known only as roadrunner.

“Hold that thought.” Both Obsidian and Stevonie said at the same time, leaving nearly everyone feeling uneasy about the newfound situation they were in. More gem mutants were in-bound from both ends of the street. The fighting went on for hours. Pearl and Stevonie witnessed firsthand the skillful combat techniques of Obsidian, as she had taken on almost as many corrupted gems as both Stevonie and Pearl did combined. But, in the end, a hand full of building were demolished, with many more needing dire repairs. If the townsfolk weren’t feeling uneasy about the Crystal gems before, they were feeling mad now. Or at least, that’s what Steven was thinking. He, Connie, Pearl, and Amethyst sat on the hillside near the lighthouse, overlooking the battle tarnished city. Bismuth and the F’amethyst assured Steven that everything will be completely fixed in a day or two. But that wasn’t the biggest thing to bug him. Gem’s don’t just burst out of their own bubbles, and there shouldn’t have been anyone left in the house during Connie’s birthday party.

“Pearl?” Steven asked a wearily looking pearl. “How did this happen? Could Gems really just break out of their bubbles that easily?”

“no. I- I don’t know.” Pearl moaned as she looked out over the town. “This doesn’t make sense. The house was locked up, and the room we kept the bubbled gems in were locked down tight. Even more so since we have new people living with us.”

“None of this would have happened if garnet were here.” Amethyst grunted as she laid face down on the ground.

“Where is she? Why has she been gone for so long?” Connie spoke as she was still inspecting her new sword.

“I…I don’t know that either. She shouldn’t have been gone for this long. She’s never been away as long as she has now.” Pearl said, beginning to sound panicked. “In fact, is she had known about this, she should have been here to stop it instead of. Of. GRARGH!” 

Pearl chucked one of her tridents towards the light tower behind them, which looked to have been imbedded well within the wall. The whole group was startled to see Pearl being that angry. But they couldn’t help but feel as though they relate to her frustration. Moments later, a shadowy figure perched herself on top of the handle of Pearls trident. A figure of a young woman wearing a cloak and tunic with the tip of the sheath peeking out from beneath the cape. As Obsidian appeared, Steven stood up and glared at her.

“WHAT DO YOU KNOW!” Steven roared at her, as she watched from up high with only one eye. “What do you know about all of this!? I know you know! You watch us all the time! Even if we think you’re aren’t, you are! What! Do! You! KNOW!!”

All Obsidian could do is stare at them for a moment before blurring out, and reemerging from behind. This time though, Connie was the first to pick up where she went to, and drew her blade towards Obsidian with very little hesitation. Obsidian looked at the blade and smiled fondly.

“A nice present from Bismuth. But I like my style better.” Obsidian spoke as she attempted to nudge the blade away from her, but with no luck. Her gaze moved onto Steven, who was clearly enraged at both her, and the situation things are in. “Problem with double edged blades is that sometimes, if you don’t know how to properly handle one, it will bite back at you. Wow, that just sounds like the worst foreshadowing line, doesn’t it?”

“Speak!” Everyone barked at Obsidian, who looked presently surprised.

“Whoa! Aren’t you a polite bunch, and even after all I did for you? Shame. But I’ll be the better, nicer Connie, and tell you what I know, because I’m the nice one.” She spoke, throwing shade at Connie in all the worst ways. “You have a traitor in your midst.”

“You mean ‘you’?” Amethyst snarled.

“Um, nope. How could I have been able to burst all those bubbles when I was already, and comfortably, in one?” She asked Amethyst, who just looked even more mad at her. “No. To be honest, even though I can see a lot of things, for something like this, all I saw was a small creature. About half the size of Peridot. Actually, almost the same size as an Era 3, or maybe an Aquamarine if she was walking on foot. Could be one or the other. Both are technologically gifted in their own right.”

“Spill!” Connie yelled at Obsidian, thrusting the sword to a few millimeters away from Obsidian’s gem. “Seriously, not sure if this can shatter or not, but since my party was literally crashed, I figure it wouldn’t hurt to bust open your piñata.”

“Wow. Got yourself a real firecracker here Steven. Better not miss an anniversary with this one. But I digress cause your answer is coming in 3. 2. 5- I mean 1.” Obsidian briefly spoke before pointing to the running Peridot and Lapis coming up from behind her.

“Guys! Listen! We have a big problem. Huge problem!” Lapis spoke fearfully

“We just did a count and found that two REALLY big gem hitters are still miss-” Peridot said before noticing that Obsidian was right in front of her, at the business end of Connie’s new sword. “Awesome, but still have one on the loose. Really bad one. REALLY!”

“WHO?!” Everyone roared at Peridot. Her eyes had sunken into herself.

“Jasper…”

**Author's Note:**

> So. Guess who's back in town and prepared to say that certain things are just cheap imitations? well, at this point, she can probably only growl and howl. but knowing Steven, he'll do whatever he can to get Jasper back to her old vengeful self. fun....but I did promise "Jasperedemption", hopefully before Christmas. between writing that, Studying and finishing up a final, and a bunch of other projects.....well, forgive me if it wont be on time. but if this arc has to end, i want it to end pretty big.


End file.
